The Swing Shift Shuffle is a radio program of swing, big band, jazz, boogie woogie and other popular music from the 1930's and 40's that airs every Wednesday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. (US Central Time) on WEVL 89.9 FM in Memphis, Tennessee, with a live webcast at wevl.org. In addition to the radio show, this blog is dedicated to all aspects of the Swing Era, including art, automobiles, cartoons, comics, history, movies, music, news, science, technology, and anything else that happened during that time. It also includes announcements about events in the Memphis/Mid-South area related to the Swing Era, such as classic movies, concerts, dances, lectures, etc. If you see something that fits the description, send it to me at tim@wevl.org. If you would like more information about the radio show, just go to the Radio Show FAQ page.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

While this post actually spans a period of time that goes nearly 20 years beyond the Swing Era, the subject matter is worth it. Boing Boing pointed me to a video featuring one frame from every Warner Bros. cartoon made between 1930 and 1969, set to the music of the old Looney Tunes closing theme: "The Merry Go Round Broke Down."

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Since it is Memorial Day weekend, this 1942 MGM cartoon seemed appropriate. Bear in mind as you watch, this short was made less than a year after the attack on Pearl Harbor. From the Internet Archive, here is Blitz Wolf.

Friday, May 27, 2011

From Pappy's Golden Age Comics Blogzine, here is another example in the apparently endless line of unusual characters from the Golden Age of comic books. Carnie Callahan was "The Barker," who ran a carnival side show full of interesting attractions. In this issue from 1948, Carnie encounters a seductive ventriloquist's dummy that appears to have a life of her own - a life of crime!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Posted on Modern Mechanix, this feature about the "Newest Devices for General Use" in the June 1935 issue of Science and Mechanics reveals several interesting points. With the U.S. still climbing out of the Great Depression, some of these items emphasized economy, like the ink bottle that could be recycled into a lamp with accessories sold by the manufacturer. That product, along with the door chimes, also relied on the do-it-yourself spirit of the time. Finally, other than the materials and technology used, items such as the one cup coffee maker and pocket flashlight would not be out of place in today's market.

The weekly Red Hot Lindy Hop lesson and session continues this Friday with a lesson by Mike and Erin, plus live music by Mr. Handy's Jazz Band featuring Gerald Stephens. Free admission before 7:00 p.m., and $7 at the door afterwards.

U of M Swing every Tuesday, Fieldhouse Room 118 from 7:00 to 9:45 p.m. Free taster lesson from 7:00-8:00 p.m. Topics vary from week to week and include East Coast Swing, Lindy Hop, Charleston, Blues and Balboa. All are welcome and no partner is required. Open practice from 8-9:30 pm. Improve your moves during this dance time. Ask questions, come practice your swing dancing and have fun with other Memphis swing dancers!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

A regular feature on the MovieFanFare blog is an item titled "This Week In Movie History," which highlights important historic events in the film industry. During this week in the 1930's and 1940's, the following occurred:

May 24, 1946: Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce have their final bow as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in Dressed to Kill.

May 28, 1935: Twentieth Century Pictures and Fox Film Corporation unite to form 20th Century Fox, overseen by Joseph Schenck and Darryl F. Zanuck.

May 28, 1941: Animators and artists at the Walt Disney Studios launch an acrimonious two-month strike for pay raises and the right to unionize.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Here is a rare Disney short starring Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald and Goofy. Information on the Internet Archive indicates it was "banned" at some time, although the reason seems unclear. I did not see anything that, at least in my opinion, would offend any modern sensibilities. So why was it banned? My best guess: It was released sometime between 1937 and 1941, before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7. After that date, Pearl Harbor may have given some of the otherwise innocent images a new, and possibly offensive, context for audiences at the time. Viewing it outside the lens of that attack, it is a charming short. Here is Hawaiian Holiday.

Friday, May 20, 2011

I love it when I learn about things from the Swing Era that are exactly what you would imagine them to be. If someone told me about classic comic stories with names like The Black Condor, The Red Torpedo, Space Legion, Madam Fatal (actually a male hero who disguises himself as an old lady [Mrs. Doubtfire?]), and Alias the Spider; I would reasonably assume they were made up to sound like classic comic books. As revealed by Golden Age Comic Book Stories, they were real. This posting features all of them in a December 1940 issue of . . . (wait for it) . . . Crack Comics.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

My favorite part of this 1943 Norge advertisement, posted on Vintage Ads, is the statement that "this is how a 1943 Norge would look in your kitchen." There are people, either on a diet or with fridge-raiding house guests, who might not mind such an appliance. Through this ad, the company not only kept its name in front of the customer, but displayed its patriotic efforts to win the war.

One of the icons associated with the Swing Era, especially the period during World War II, was the pinup girl: that "girl-next-door"/Hollywood starlet that served as a reminder of what the boys were fighting for; and ended up on barrack walls and airplane noses (e.g., our own B-17, Memphis Belle ). Although there has been ample material available to post such images, I have never really focused on them because there are plenty of other sites featuring classic pinups. I could not resist, however, this set of images from Film Noir Photos, featuring Chili Williams posing in training slides for a U.S. Army presentation on camouflage. I was not familiar with Ms. Williams until this post, but it appears she was one of the most popular pinups of the war, becoming known as "The Polka Dot Girl" for a distinctive series of photos. She went on to have small parts in several Hollywood films beginning in the mid-40's until retiring from show business in the 1950's. An April 1944 article in Life magazine described Ms. Williams' contribution to the war effort as follows:

In need of a dramatic device to stimulate what they call their "visual aids" teaching methods, the Army Engineers, who are renowned for their inventiveness, enlised Chili's help. The camouflage section at Ft. Belvoir, Va had photographer Ewing Krainin make the pictures on these pages for their lantern-slide lectures on camouflage. By thus using Chili, says the Army official release, "vital principles are impressed in the minds of camouflage students in a most effective manner." Honor students are awarded copies of the photographs.

Next week (May 27, 2011) will have live music with Mr. Handy's Jazz Band.

U of M Swing every Tuesday, Fieldhouse Room 118 from 7:00 to 9:45 p.m. Free taster lesson from 7:00-8:00 p.m. Topics vary from week to week and include East Coast Swing, Lindy Hop, Charleston, Blues and Balboa. All are welcome and no partner is required. Open practice from 8-9:30 pm. Improve your moves during this dance time. Ask questions, come practice your swing dancing and have fun with other Memphis swing dancers!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Although I am a fan of the early Hitchcock film The 39 Steps, I have not seen his 1936 film Sabotage. Based on the review posted on MovieFanFare, however, I will now watch for this movie.

The film opens metaphorically with a close-up shot of a flashing light bulb (a warning signal?) and then transitions into a shot of a crowded London street right before a blackout. In true Hitchcockian fashion, the film cuts back to the flashing light bulb and we watch as the light slows its pace and then goes completely out upon the blackout. Another quick cut takes us to the Bijou,a movie theatre run by Karl Verloc (Oskar Homolka). Dressed in the typical accoutrement of a shady figure—a dark overcoat—Verloc seems to be sneaking back into his home just after the blackout hits. When he lays down on the couch and covers his face with a newspaper, you instantly know something just isn’t kosher. When his wife (Sylvia Sidney) comes to complain that the theatre’s patrons want their money back he tells her to give it to them, hinting that they don’t have to worry about money any more. Why?

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Little Audrey reads her comic book rather than memorizing Mother Goose, and the teacher sends her to the corner. When she nods off, a hip, young Mother Goose takes her on a jivin' tour of Mother Gooseland. From Paramount Pictures and the Internet Archive, here is the 1950 release Goofy, Goofy Gander.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Most of the flying cars I remember were usually based on an airplane. As this posting from Modern Mechanix indicates, according to the November 1941 issue of Mechanix Illustrated, at least one gent in Alabama built a home-made helicoptomobile. It was an interesting design, featuring two, counter-rotating main rotors, with apparently no pusher or puller propeller.

It appears that Blogger ran into a bit of trouble Wednesday night, and had to remove some posts. It is my understanding that the removed posts will be restored. Meanwhile, everything else seems to be operational again. Sorry for the interruption.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

As the proud owner of a GMC with 165,000+ miles on the original drivetrain and still running strong, I could not resist mentioning this post on Hemmings featuring a series of photos depicting classic GMC trucks at work.

I remember seeing ads for art schools in comic books and other magazines when I was a kid, but I do not remember them using a Petty- or Vargas-style pin up girl as the admission test. All I remember were turtles. As demonstrated by this post on Modern Mechanix, art schools were apparently more sophisticated in June 1941, when this ad appeared in Mechanix Illustrated.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

As the floodwaters recede, dry out at the Red Hot Lindy Hop weekly lesson and session this Friday with a lesson by Jaredan and Amanda and music by Amanda. Free admission before 7:00 p.m., and $5 at the door afterwards.

U of M Swing every Tuesday, Fieldhouse Room 118 from 7:00 to 9:45 p.m. Free taster lesson from 7:00-8:00 p.m. Topics vary from week to week and include East Coast Swing, Lindy Hop, Charleston, Blues and Balboa. All are welcome and no partner is required. Open practice from 8-9:30 pm. Improve your moves during this dance time. Ask questions, come practice your swing dancing and have fun with other Memphis swing dancers!

Monday, May 9, 2011

In this item, Golden Age Comic Book Stories goes back to the roots of its name, posting seven Link Thorne: The Flying Fool stories from May to December 1947. I had never heard of this character, but the stories appear to be everything you would expect from a Golden Age comic book story: tough, handsome hero; loyal girl; action-packed story; etc.

Sorry, folks. I must have been asleep at the controls. Apparently my cartoon did not post Saturday morning when I clicked "publish," and I did not notice until now. Better late than never. Here is a classic cartoon I have not seen in some time. Directed by Tex Avery when he was still at Warner Bros., it features "Owl Jolson." From the Internet Archive, here is the 1936 animated short, I Love To Singa.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Take a little of George Orwell's 1984, mix it with an (un)healthy dose of Nazi eugenics, throw in modern technology and its accompanying privacy concerns, and you have the subject of this 1933 article by a psychiatrist about the future of marriage. Posted on Paleofuture, the article looked ahead to the marital rituals of 2033.

Dr. Wile imagined a bureau of records under government control that would begin monitoring people the day they were born. He predicted that everything about a person would be recorded; from someone's physical and mental defects at birth to the subjective progress and imperfections of that person throughout their life. Then, when someone wished to be married, they would be assessed by bureaucrats and found a suitable mate based upon case cards that have been cross-indexed against members of the opposite sex. These assessments would be made based on class and desirable physical and mental traits.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

It has been some time since I had some time to post anything about upcoming movies on TCM. Fortunately, The Hollywood Review did a nice list and description of various classic films throughout the May. Many thanks! Get your swimsuit on, because Esther Williams is the star of the month. Also featured are birthday tributes to Katherine Hepburn and James Stewart.

When I was in high school, our physics teacher had a giant, rectangular, plastic magnifying lens; about 2x3 feet in size. He would take us outside, and demonstrate the effect of concentrating the suns rays by using the lens to melt pennies on the parking lot. It looks like a scientist in the 1940's was ahead of the game with this sunlight focusing ray for military use. Modern Mechanix posted this item from the June 1941 issue of Mechanix Illustrated.

U of M Swing every Tuesday, Fieldhouse Room 118 from 7:00 to 9:45 p.m. Free taster lesson from 7:00-8:00 p.m. Topics vary from week to week and include East Coast Swing, Lindy Hop, Charleston, Blues and Balboa. All are welcome and no partner is required. Open practice from 8-9:30 pm. Improve your moves during this dance time. Ask questions, come practice your swing dancing and have fun with other Memphis swing dancers!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Back in the days when ocean liners actually served as transportation, rather than just vacation destinations in themselves, the R.M.S. Queen Mary was the jewel in the Cunard White Star Line crown. This 1930's poster from Dieselpunk illustrates how one could travel in style.